Methods and apparatus to classify all other tuning data

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture to classify all other tuning (AOT) data are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a media interface to access first channel information corresponding to a first record at a first time. An operating state identifier is to store the channel information corresponding to the first record at the first time in a data store. An AOT identifier is to determine the first record is classified as AOT data. A comparator is to compare the channel information at the first time with second channel information at a second time, wherein the second channel information at the second time corresponds to a previously classified media record. A record updater is to, when the first channel information matches the second channel information, update the first record with a media identification from the matched classification classified media record and store the updated first record in the data store.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to media monitoring, and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to classify all other tuningdata.

BACKGROUND

Monitoring companies desire knowledge on how users interact with mediadevices, such as smartphones, tablets, laptops, smart televisions, etc.To facilitate such monitoring, monitoring companies enlist panelists andinstall meters at the media presentation locations of those panelists.The meters monitor media presentations and transmit media monitoringinformation to a central facility of the monitoring company. Such mediamonitoring information enables the media monitoring companies to, amongother things, monitor exposure to advertisements, determineadvertisement effectiveness, determine user behavior, identifypurchasing behavior associated with various demographic, etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system constructed in accordancewith the teachings of this disclosure for classifying all other tuning(AOT) data.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of the example meter of FIG. 1 to collectmedia data.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the example media presentation device ofFIG. 1 to provide operating state characteristics to the example meterof FIG. 1.

FIG. 2C is a block diagram of the example media measurement datacontroller of FIG. 2A to perform media classification operations oncollected media data.

FIG. 3A is a table illustration of the example media presentation deviceactivity.

FIG. 3B is a table illustration of the example data store of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the example central facility of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example meter of FIG. 1 tocollect media data and classify the all-other-tuning data.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example meter and the examplemedia presentation device of FIG. 1 to identify media data.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement an example media measurement datacontroller of FIGS. 2A and 2C to perform a forward pass operation onunidentified media data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example media measurement datacontroller of FIGS. 2A and 2C to perform a backward pass operation onunidentified media data.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructionswhich may be executed to implement the example central facility of FIG.1 to generate a media ratings report.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and/or 8 to implement theexample meter and/or the example media presentation device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example processing platform structuredto execute the instructions of FIGS. 7, 8, and/or 9 to implement theexample central facility of FIG. 1.

The figures are not to scale. In general, the same reference numberswill be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts. As used in this patent,stating that any part (e.g., a layer, film, area, region, or plate) isin any way on (e.g., positioned on, located on, disposed on, or formedon, etc.) another part, indicates that the referenced part is either incontact with the other part, or that the referenced part is above theother part with one or more intermediate part(s) located therebetween.Stating that any part is in contact with another part means that thereis no intermediate part between the two parts. Although the figures showlayers and regions with clean lines and boundaries, some or all of theselines and/or boundaries may be idealized. In reality, the boundariesand/or lines may be unobservable, blended, and/or irregular.

Descriptors “first,” “second,” “third,” etc. are used herein whenidentifying multiple elements or components which may be referred toseparately. Unless otherwise specified or understood based on theircontext of use, such descriptors are not intended to impute any meaningof priority or ordering in time but merely as labels for referring tomultiple elements or components separately for ease of understanding thedisclosed examples. In some examples, the descriptor “first” may be usedto refer to an element in the detailed description, while the sameelement may be referred to in a claim with a different descriptor suchas “second” or “third.” In such instances, it should be understood thatsuch descriptors are used merely for ease of referencing multipleelements or components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

When measuring media ratings, it is important to have the ability totrack all content and/or all types of content (e.g., advertisements,television shows, movies, or any other type of broadcasting content)that are displayed via a viewing screen. In some examples, a mediadevice is on (e.g., the screen is lit and/or displaying video), but whatis being displayed to that screen is undeterminable. This undeterminedcontent, or non-content, becomes classified by a measuring device (e.g.,a meter) as All-Other-Tuning (AOT). It is important to keep the amountof AOT data to a minimum because AOT data dilutes the accuracy of theoverall ratings when the AOT data becomes significant (e.g., increases).

For media ratings to have value to advertisers or producers of mediacontent, metering data used to generate the ratings must provide anaccurate representation of the viewing habits of persons in meteredenvironments (e.g., households). Generating accurate metering data hasbecome more difficult as the audio-visual (AV) devices presenting mediacontent in metered households have become more complex in functionalityand interoperability. To reduce the complexity of connecting andoperating the AV devices, AV device manufacturers have developed AVnetwork protocols (e.g., high definition multi-media interface-consumerelectronic control (HDMI-CEC)) for transmitting digital messages betweenAV devices.

Messages transmitted via an AV network covey information between devicesrelated to the operating states of the devices (e.g., power status,tuning status, record and playback information, remote controlinformation, etc.). The message data transmitted via an AV network maybe utilized (e.g., extracted and analyzed) to identify the operatingstates of AV devices that are coupled to the AV network and which arepresenting media content to people in metered households or othermonitored environments. In some examples, identification of theoperating states of AV devices is crucial in ensuring that the meteringdata collected accurately reflects consumption of media content bypersons and, as a result, ensuring that the data may be used to producemedia ratings with value to advertisers or producers of media content.

Examples disclosed herein provide methods, apparatus and articles ofmanufacture to reduce the AOT data that is generated when an AV deviceis on but the content is undeterminable by utilizing informationextracted from AV network protocols (e.g., HDMI-CEC). For example,methods and apparatus disclosed herein perform a forward pass and abackward pass on information stored in a reference database to determineif the AOT data is identifiable. For example, a meter can identify mediaidentifying data, store the identified data in a database, and query anAV operating state identifier for information corresponding to operatingstate characteristics. Examples of operating state characteristics ofthe AV device include power (On/Off), which device is the active source,tuning information like major and minor channels, etc. for storage inthe database. The meter can utilize the populated databases to comparethe AOT data with the media identified data of a previous time byanalyzing the operating state characteristics of both the AOT data andthe media identified data of the previous time (e.g., forward pass)and/or comparing the AOT data characteristics with identified tuningdata characteristics of a future time (e.g., backward pass). Forexample, methods and apparatus disclosed herein query and store timestamped records of the state of the AV device (e.g., On/Off, audiolevel, major/minor channel information, etc.) in a database for use whenidentifying the media data that is classified as AOT data.

There are multiple types of scenarios that cause a measuring device,such as a meter, to classify media data as AOT data. One examplescenario includes when a viewing screen, such as a TV, displays a blue,black, or static screen without the presence of audio. A second examplescenario includes viewable content (e.g., an advertisement, a TV show,etc.) is lacking audio due to low volume or muted conditions.

The second example scenario that includes viewable content but islacking audio due to low volume or muted conditions, can cause AOT datato rise when the viewer has a habit of background viewing of mediacontent. For example, a viewer may be talking over a telephone andprefer to not have volume distract them but do not turn off the AVdevice. In this manner, the viewer might mute the AV device but view thepresented video. The behavior of this scenario is that the viewingscreen is on, there is no audio, and there are changes in video (e.g.,the screen displays different images over time). Example methods andapparatus described herein may be used to determine the time at whichthe audio and/or video data was classified as AOT data and furtherdetermine, utilizing the AV network protocol, if at the time the audioand/or video data was classified as AOT data, the viewer had muted theAV device but did not turn the AV device off.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system constructed in accordancewith the teachings of this disclosure for classifying all other tuning(AOT) data. In FIG. 1, an illustration of an example audio-video (AV)environment 102 is depicted to present media content to one or morepanelists 104, 106 (e.g., panel members, or persons, etc.) and performwatermark detection and/or signature detection. In the illustratedexample of FIG. 1, an example AV environment 102 includes an examplemedia presentation device 108 which is connected via an AV networkwhich, for example, may be implemented as an HDMI-CEC protocol compliantnetwork, to one or more AV devices including, but not limited to, a settop box (STB) 110 and digital video recorder (DVR) 112. HDMI-CEC is onlyone example AV network protocol that may be used in conjunction with theexample methods and apparatus described herein. Thus, many other networkprotocols could be used instead, such as Syndicat Français desConstructeurs d'Appareils Radio et Television (SCART). The AVenvironment 102 includes an example meter 114 coupled to the mediapresentation device 108 via the AV network. The meter 114 identifies themedia presented by the media presentation device 108 and reports mediamonitoring information to an example central facility 190 of an examplemedia measurement entity via an example gateway 140 and an examplenetwork 180. The panelists 104, 106 may interface with the devicesconnected to the AV environment 102 in many ways, one of which isthrough the use of one or more remote control devices 116 (e.g.,infrared (IR) and/or radio frequency (RF) remote control devices). Theremote control device(s) 116 may be designed to communicate with one ormore AV devices from a single manufacturer or the remote controldevice(s) 116 may include a universal remote control designed tocommunicate with multiple or all of the AV devices connected in the AVenvironment 102.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the example AV environment 102 isa room of a household (e.g., a room in a home of a panelist, such as thehome of a “Nielsen family”). In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, theexample panelists 104, 106 of the household have been statisticallyselected to develop media ratings data (e.g., television ratings data)for a population/demographic of interest. People become panelists via,for example, a user interface presented on a media device (e.g., via theTV 108, via a website, etc.). People become panelists in additional oralternative manners such as, for example, via a telephone interview, bycompleting an online survey, etc. Additionally or alternatively, peoplemay be contacted and/or enlisted using any desired methodology (e.g.,random selection, statistical selection, phone solicitations, Internetadvertisements, surveys, advertisements in shopping malls, productpackaging, etc.). In some examples, an entire family may be enrolled asa household of panelists. That is, while a mother, a father, a son, anda daughter may each be identified as individual panelists, their viewingactivities typically occur within the family's household.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, one or more panelists 104, 106 ofthe household have registered with an media measurement entity (e.g., byagreeing to be a panelist) and have provided their demographicinformation to the media measurement entity as part of a registrationprocess to enable associating demographics with media exposureactivities (e.g., television exposure, radio exposure, Internetexposure, etc.). The demographic data includes, for example, age,gender, income level, educational level, marital status, geographiclocation, race, etc., of a panelist. While the example AV environment102 is a household in the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the example AVenvironment 102 can additionally or alternatively be any other type(s)of environments such as, for example, a theater, a restaurant, a tavern,a retail location, an arena, etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the example media presentationdevice 108 is a television. However, the example media presentationdevice 108 can correspond to any type of audio, video and/or multimediapresentation device capable of presenting media audibly and/or visually.In some examples, the media presentation device 108 (e.g., a television)may communicate audio to another media presentation device (e.g., anaudio/video receiver) for output by one or more speakers (e.g., surroundsound speakers, a sound bar, etc.). As another example, the mediapresentation device 110 can correspond to a multimedia computer system,a personal digital assistant, a cellular/mobile smartphone, a radio, ahome theater system, stored audio and/or video played back from amemory, such as a digital video recorder or a digital versatile disc, awebpage, and/or any other communication device capable of presentingmedia to an audience (e.g., the panelists 104, 106).

In examples disclosed herein, a media measurement entity provides themeter 114 to the panelist 104, 106 (or household of panelists) such thatthe meter 114 may be installed in the AV environment 102. In someexamples, the meter 114 is installed by the panelists 104, 106 byelectronically connecting the meter 114 to the media presentation device108 and configuring the meter 114 to transmit media monitoringinformation to the central facility 190. In examples disclosed herein,configuration of the meter 114 is performed by an installer (e.g.,personnel from the media measurement entity) who installs the meter 114in the AV environment 102 and configures the meter 114.

The example meter 114 detects exposure to media and electronicallystores monitoring information (e.g., a code detected with the presentedmedia, a signature of the presented media, an identifier of a panelistpresent at the time of the presentation, a timestamp of the time of thepresentation) of the presented media. The stored monitoring informationis then transmitted back to the central facility 190 via the gateway 140and the network 180. While the media monitoring information istransmitted by electronic transmission in the illustrated example ofFIG. 1, the media monitoring information may additionally oralternatively be transferred in any other manner such as, for example,by physically mailing the meter 114, by physically mailing a memory ofthe meter 114, etc.

The meter 114 of the illustrated example combines media measurementdata, people metering data, and operating state characteristic data. Forexample, media measurement data is determined by monitoring media outputby the media presentation device 108 and/or other media presentationdevice(s), audience identification data (also referred to as demographicdata, people monitoring data, etc.) is determined from people monitoringdata provided to the meter 114, and operating state characteristic datais determined by querying an AV network using, for example, HDMI-CECprotocol, of an active device such as the media presentation device 108,STB 110, and/or DVR 112. Thus, the example meter 114 providesmulti-purpose functionality of a media measurement meter that is tocollect media measurement data, a people meter that is to collect and/orassociate demographic information corresponding to the collected mediameasurement data, and a media interface that is to collect and/orassociate operating state characteristic information with mediameasurement data.

For example, the meter 114 of the illustrated example collects mediaidentifying information and/or data (e.g., signature(s), fingerprint(s),code(s), tuned channel identification information, time of exposureinformation, etc.) and people data (e.g., user identifiers, demographicdata associated with audience members, etc.). The media identifyinginformation and the people data can be combined to generate, forexample, media exposure data (e.g., ratings data) indicative ofamount(s) and/or type(s) of people that were exposed to specificpiece(s) of media distributed via the media presentation device 108. Toextract media identification data, the meter 114 of the illustratedexample of FIG. 1 monitors for watermarks (sometimes referred to ascodes) and signatures included in the presented media.

In examples disclosed herein, to monitor media presented by the mediapresentation device 108, the meter 114 of the illustrated example sensesaudio (e.g., acoustic signals or ambient audio) output (e.g., emitted)by the media presentation device 108 and/or some other audio presentingsystem (e.g., an audio/video receiver). For example, the meter 114processes the signals obtained from the media presentation device 108 todetect media and/or source identifying signals (e.g., audio watermarks)embedded in portion(s) (e.g., audio portions) of the media presented bythe media presentation device 108. To, for example, sense ambient audiooutput by the media presentation device 108, the meter 114 of theillustrated example includes an example audio sensor (e.g., amicrophone). In some examples, the meter 114 may process audio signalsobtained from the media presentation device 108 via a direct cableconnection (e.g., HDMI) to detect media and/or source identifying audiowatermarks embedded in such audio signals.

The example gateway 140 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 is a routerthat enables the meter 114 and/or other devices in the AV environment102 (e.g., the media presentation device 108, the STB 110, the DVR 112,etc.) to communicate with the network 180 (e.g., the Internet.)

In some examples, the example gateway 140 facilitates delivery of mediafrom a media source(s) to the media presentation device 108 via theInternet. In some examples, the example gateway 140 includes gatewayfunctionality such as modem capabilities. In some other examples, theexample gateway 140 is implemented in two or more devices (e.g., arouter, a modem, a switch, a firewall, etc.). The gateway 140 of theillustrated example may communicate with the network 180 via Ethernet, adigital subscriber line (DSL), a telephone line, a coaxial cable, a USBconnection, a Bluetooth connection, any wireless connection, etc.

In some examples, the example gateway 140 hosts a Local Area Network(LAN) for the AV environment 102. In the illustrated example, the LAN isa wireless local area network (WLAN), and allows the meter 114, themedia presentation device 108, etc., to transmit and/or receive data viathe Internet. Alternatively, the gateway 140 may be coupled to such aLAN. In examples disclosed herein, the example gateway 140 and/orconnectivity to the Internet via the gateway 140 is provided by thepanelists 104, 106. That is, the example gateway 140 is a device that isowned and/or operated by the panelists 104, 106, and is not provided bythe media measurement entity. In some examples, the example gateway 140may be provided by an Internet Service Provider (ISP) to facilitatecommunication between the LAN provided by the gateway 140 and thenetwork 180 (e.g., the Internet). Additionally, in examples disclosedherein, the meter 114 utilizes the LAN hosted by the example gateway 140to transmit and/or receive information to and/or from the centralfacility 190. Transmitting information using a LAN provided by theexample gateway 140 ensures that information is reliably transmitted tothe central facility 190. Advantageously, other costlier approaches totransmitting information to the central facility 190 such as, forexample, inclusion of a cellular transceiver in the meter 114 need notbe utilized.

The network 180 of the illustrated example is a wide area network (WAN)such as the Internet. However, in some examples, local networks mayadditionally or alternatively be used. Moreover, the example network 180may be implemented using any type of public or private network such as,but not limited to, the Internet, a telephone network, a local areanetwork (LAN), a cable network, and/or a wireless network, or anycombination thereof.

The central facility 190 of the illustrated example is implemented byone or more servers. The central facility 190 processes and stores datareceived from the meter(s) 114. In some examples disclosed herein, theexample central facility 190 of FIG. 1 combines media identificationdata and program identification data from multiple households togenerate aggregated media monitoring information. In some examplesdisclosed herein, the central facility 190 may generate a report foradvertisers, program producers and/or other interested parties based onthe compiled statistical data. Such reports include extrapolations aboutthe size and demographic composition of audiences of content, channelsand/or advertisements based on the demographics and behavior of themonitored panelists. Additionally, the example central facility 190performs methods disclosed herein corresponding to reducing AOT datareceived by example meter(s) 114.

As noted above, the meter 114 of the illustrated example provides acombination of media metering and people metering. The meter 114 of FIG.1 includes its own housing, processor, memory and/or software to performthe desired media monitoring and/or people monitoring functions. Theexample meter 114 of FIG. 1 is a stationary device directly coupled tothe media presentation device 108 via an AV network protocol (e.g.,HDMI-CEC). To identify and/or confirm the presence of a panelist presentin the AV environment 102, the example meter 114 of the illustratedexample includes a display. For example, the display providesidentification of the panelists 104, 106 present in the AV environment102. For example, in the illustrated example, the meter 114 displaysindicia (e.g., illuminated numerical numerals 1, 2, 3, etc.) identifyingand/or confirming the presence of the first panelist 104, the secondpanelist 106, etc. In such examples, such an indicia (e.g., illuminatednumerical numerals 1, 2, 3, etc.), may be illuminated in response to acommunication received from the central facility 190. In the illustratedexample, the meter 114 is affixed to a top of the media presentationdevice 108. However, the meter 114 may be affixed to the mediapresentation device in any other orientation such as, for example, on aside of the media presentation device 108, on the bottom of the mediapresentation device 108, etc.

Before discussing the example methods and apparatus for classifying AOTdata in detail, a brief discussion of the manners in which AV devicesare connected to and communicate via an AV network is first providedbelow. Available AV devices, such as those depicted in FIG. 1, arebecoming more complex in functionality and interoperability with otherAV devices. As a result, manufacturers are exploring new, user friendlyways of standardizing interfaces to simplify for the user the setup andoperation of these devices. For example, HDMI-CEC is one AV networkprotocol that simplifies the setup and operation of an otherwise complexarrangement of AV network devices. However, HDMI-CEC is only one exampleof a network protocol and many other well-known protocols could be used,such as the various implementations of AV.link including EasyLink andSmartLink. One particular example of a simplified interface is theone-button-play feature that enables a user to activate one button orcontrol to cause devices coupled to an AV network to be powered on,select the proper media source, and begin playing the media content.

To enable an AV network to provide features such as one-button-playfunctionality and other high level control functions, each AV deviceconnected to the AV network must be able to address directly all otherAV devices on the AV network. To accomplish this, each AV device on thenetwork is assigned a physical address and a logical address. Forexample, when an AV device is added to the AV network, the AV device isassigned a physical address corresponding to its physical location onthe AV network and a logical address corresponding to the functionalityof the device. If an AV device connected to the AV network does notfully support the protocol utilized in the AV network, the AV device maybe assigned a physical address but not a logical address. Multiplemethods of addressing could be used and one such example is set forth inthe High-Definition Multimedia Interface specification, version 1.3aprovided through HDMI Licensing, LLC, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

An HDMI-CEC network is created through the interconnection of two ormore HDMI-CEC compliant devices. Physical addresses are assigned to anAV device on the HDMI-CEC network according to the location at which theAV device is connected to the AV network and are used to ensure thatmedia content is routed correctly from a source AV device (e.g., a DVR)to a media presentation device (e.g., a television). The root device ofthe AV network (e.g., a television) is always assigned the physicaladdress 0.0.0.0. A first AV device on the AV network may have one ormore ports available for connecting a second AV device to the AVnetwork. The physical address of the second AV device is created byincorporating the physical address of the first AV device and the numberof the port of the first AV device to which the second AV device isconnected. For example, a second AV device may be connected to port 2 ofa first AV device having the physical address of 1.2.0.0 and, therefore,the second AV device may be assigned the physical address of 1.2.2.0.

Another method of addressing AV devices on an AV network uses logicaladdressing based on the functionality (e.g., television, tuner,recording device, playback device or audio system) of the AV device. AnAV device may incorporate one or more functionalities such as, forexample, a STB may have two tuners and two digital recording devicesimplemented internally. Each functionality type (e.g., recording deviceor tuner) implemented within a device is assigned a logical address.However, if an AV device contains multiple instances associated with afunctionality, the AV device may only be assigned one logical address ofthat functionality, and the AV device may be required to manage themultiple instances of functionality internally. In the above-mentionedSTB example, the STB may be assigned a physical address of 1.2.0.0, alogical address for a tuner, and another logical address for a recordingdevice. The STB may then manage second instances of a tuner and arecording device internally.

HDMI-CEC is an AV device network communication protocol designed to beimplemented using a single wire, multi-drop bus for which all messagestransferred via the AV network (i.e., via the single wire bus) arereceived substantially simultaneously by all AV devices on the AVnetwork. The messages transmitted via the AV network contain fields thatindicate the message source (e.g., the logical address of the AV devicesending the message), the message destination (e.g., the logical addressof the AV device intended as the recipient of the message) and anoperation code (e.g., a command to the destination device or request forstatus information). Some messages (e.g., broadcast messages) contain amessage destination that indicates that all AV devices on the AV networkare the intended recipients of the messages. The AV devices indicated asthe message destination process the operation code sent in the messageand reply to the AV device indicated as the message source.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of the example meter of FIG. 1 to collectmedia data. The example meter 114 of FIG. 2A includes an example imagesensor 201, an example audio sensor 202, an example media identifier204, an example network communicator 206, an example communicationprocessor 208, an example people identifier 210, an example mediameasurement data controller 212, an example data store 214, and anexample media interface 230.

The example image sensor 201 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2A is acamera. The example image sensor 201 receives light waves, such as thelight waves emitting from the example media presentation device 108, andconverts them into signals that convey information. Additionally oralternatively, the example image sensor 201 may be implemented by a lineinput connection, where the video and images presented by the examplemedia presentation device 108 are carried over the example AV network(e.g., HDMI cable) to the example meter 114. The example image sensor201 may not be included in the example meter 114. For example, it maynot be necessary for the meter 114 to utilize the image sensor 201 toidentify media data. However, in some examples, the image sensor 201 canbe utilized for detection of media data.

The example audio sensor 202 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2A is amicrophone. The example audio sensor 202 receives ambient sound (e.g.,free field audio) including audible media presented in the vicinity ofthe meter 114. Additionally or alternatively, the example audio sensor202 may be implemented by a line input connection. The line inputconnection may allow an external microphone to be used with the meter114 and/or, in some examples, may enable the audio sensor 202 to bedirectly connected to an output of a media presentation device (e.g., anauxiliary output of a television, an auxiliary output of an audio/videoreceiver of a home entertainment system, etc.) Advantageously, the meter114 is positioned in a location such that the audio sensor 202 receivesambient audio produced by the television and/or other devices of thehome entertainment system with sufficient quality to identify mediapresented by the media presentation device 108 and/or other devices ofthe AV environment 102 (e.g., a surround sound speaker system). Forexample, in examples disclosed herein, the meter 114 may be placed ontop of the television, secured to the bottom of the television, etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2A, one audio sensor 202 is shown.However, any other number of audio sensor(s) may additionally oralternatively be used. For example, two audio sensors may be used, fouraudio sensors may be used, etc. Audio received by the example audiosensor 202 is passed to the media identifier 204 for identification.

The example media identifier 204 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Aanalyzes signals received via the image sensor 201 and/or audio receivedvia the audio sensor 202 and identifies the media being presented. Theexample media identifier 204 of the illustrated example outputs anidentifier of the media (e.g., media-identifying information) to themedia measurement data controller 212. In examples disclosed herein, themedia identifier 204 utilizes audio and/or video watermarking techniquesto identify the media Audio watermarking is a technique used to identifymedia such as television broadcasts, radio broadcasts, advertisements(television and/or radio), downloaded media, streaming media,prepackaged media, etc. Existing audio watermarking techniques identifymedia by embedding one or more audio codes (e.g., one or morewatermarks), such as media identifying information and/or one or moreidentifier(s) that may be mapped to media identifying information, intoan audio and/or video component of the media. In some examples, theaudio and/or video component of the media is selected to have a signalcharacteristic sufficient to hide the watermark. As used herein, theterms “code” and/or “watermark” are used interchangeably and are definedto mean any identification information (e.g., an identifier) that may beinserted or embedded in the audio or video of media (e.g., a program oradvertisement) for the purpose of identifying the media or for anotherpurpose such as tuning (e.g., a packet identifying header). As usedherein “media” refers to audio and/or visual (still or moving) contentand/or advertisements. In some examples, to identify watermarked media,the watermark(s) are extracted and used to access a table of referencewatermarks that are mapped to media identifying information.

In some examples, the media identifier 204 may utilize signature-basedmedia identification techniques. Unlike media monitoring techniquesbased on codes and/or watermarks included with and/or embedded in themonitored media, fingerprint or signature-based media monitoringtechniques generally use one or more inherent characteristics of themonitored media during a monitoring time interval to generate asubstantially unique proxy for the media. Such a proxy is referred to asa signature or fingerprint, and can take any form (e.g., a series ofdigital values, a waveform, etc.) representative of any aspect(s) of themedia signal(s) (e.g., the audio and/or video signals forming the mediapresentation being monitored). A signature may be a series of signaturescollected in series over a time interval. A good signature is repeatablewhen processing the same media presentation, but is unique relative toother (e.g., different) presentations of other (e.g., different) media.Accordingly, the term “fingerprint” and “signature” are usedinterchangeably herein and are defined herein to mean a proxy foridentifying media that is generated from one or more inherentcharacteristics of the media.

Signature-based media monitoring generally involves determining (e.g.,generating and/or collecting) signature(s) representative of a mediasignal (e.g., an audio signal and/or a video signal) output by amonitored media device and comparing the monitored signature(s) to oneor more reference signatures corresponding to known (e.g., reference)media sources. Various comparison criteria, such as a cross-correlationvalue, a Hamming distance, etc., can be evaluated to determine whether amonitored signature matches a particular reference signature. When amatch between the monitored signature and one of the referencesignatures is found, the monitored media can be identified ascorresponding to the particular reference media represented by thereference signature that with matched the monitored signature. Becauseattributes, such as an identifier of the media, a presentation time, abroadcast channel, etc., are collected for the reference signature,these attributes may then be associated with the monitored media whosemonitored signature matched the reference signature. Example systems foridentifying media based on codes and/or signatures are long known andwere first disclosed in Thomas, U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,294, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

The example network communicator 206 of the illustrated example of FIG.2A is a communication interface configured to receive and/or otherwisetransmit corresponding communications to and/or from the centralfacility 190. In the illustrated example, the network communicator 206facilitates wired communication via an Ethernet network hosted by theexample gateway 140 of FIG. 1. In some examples, the networkcommunicator 206 is implemented by a Wi-Fi radio that communicates viathe LAN hosted by the example gateway 140. In other examples disclosedherein, any other type of wireless transceiver may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the network communicator 206. Inexamples disclosed herein, the example network communicator 206communicates information to the communication processor 208 whichperforms actions based on the received information. In other examplesdisclosed herein, the network communicator 206 may transmit mediameasurement information provided by the media measurement datacontroller 212 (e.g., data stored in the data store 214) to the centralfacility 190 of the media measurement entity.

The example communication processor 208 of the illustrated example ofFIG. 2A receives information from the network communicator 206 andperforms actions based on that received information. For example, thecommunication processor 208 packages records corresponding to collectedmedia data and transmits records to the central facility 190. Inexamples disclosed herein, the communication processor 208 communicateswith the media identifier 204 and/or a media measurement data controller212 information from the network communicator 206 that may requestmetering data. In other examples disclosed herein, the communicationprocessor 208 may process and/or otherwise package information from thenetwork communicator 206 for use by the media measurement datacontroller 212.

The example people identifier 210 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Adetermines audience identification data representative of the identitiesof the audience member(s) (e.g., panelists) present in the AVenvironment 102. In some examples, the people identifier 210 collectsaudience identification data by periodically or a-periodically promptingaudience members in the AV environment 102 to identify themselves aspresent in the audience. Panelists may identify themselves by, forexample, pressing a button on a remote, speaking their name, etc. Insome examples, the people identifier 210 prompts the audience member(s)to self-identify in response to one or more predetermined events (e.g.,when the media presentation device 110 is turned on, a channel ischanged, an infrared control signal is detected, etc.). The peopleidentifier 210 provides the audience identification data to the mediameasurement data controller such that the media measurement data can becorrelated with the media identification data to facilitate anidentification of which media was presented to which audience member.

The example media measurement data controller 212 of the illustratedexample of FIG. 2A receives media identifying information (e.g., a code,a signature, etc.) from the media identifier 204 and audienceidentification data from the people identifier 210 and stores thereceived information in the data store 214. In some examples, uponidentification of media, in response to execution of a command, and/orother events within the media measurement data controller 212, the mediameasurement data controller 212 may provide a message to the mediainterface 230 requesting operating state characteristics of the activedevice that generated the media data. Such a message may be sent to theoperating state identifier 221 via the AV network controller 224. Theexample media measurement data controller 212 periodically and/ora-periodically transmits, via the network communicator 206, the mediameasurement information stored in the data store 214 to the centralfacility 190 for post-processing of media measurement data, aggregationand/or preparation of media monitoring reports. In some examples, themedia measurement data controller 212 performs forward pass and backwardpass operations on the media data stored in the example data store 214.For example, the media measurement data controller 212 may determine themedia identifier 204 was unable to classify the media data according tothe television broadcasts, radio broadcasts, advertisements (televisionand/or radio), downloaded media, streaming media, prepackaged media,etc., and queries the data store 214 for operating state characteristicsof the active device at the time the media identifier 204 was unable toidentify the media data. Further, if the example media measurement datacontroller 212 determines the active device was on and presenting videoor audio, the media measurement data controller 212 will perform forwardpass on the data stored in the example data store 214 and furtherperform backward pass if the forward pass operation did not identify theAOT data. The example media measurement data controller 212 is describedin further detail below in connection with FIG. 2C.

The example data store 214 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2A may beimplemented by any device for storing data such as, for example, flashmemory, magnetic media, optical media, etc. Furthermore, the data storedin the example data store 214 may be in any data format such as, forexample, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data,structured query language (SQL) structures, etc. In the illustratedexample, the example data store 214 stores media identifying informationcollected by the media identifier 204 and audience identification datacollected by the people identifier 210. In some examples, the exampledata store 214 additionally stores operating state characteristics ofthe devices in the example AV network (e.g., television 108, STB 110,DVR 112, etc.) received from the example operating state identifier 221by the example media interface. The example data store 214 is describedin further detail below in connection with FIG. 3B.

The example media interface 230 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Aqueries the AV network using, for example the HDMI-CEC protocol, forinformation corresponding to the operating state characteristics of theactive device. The example media interface 230 is the physicalconnection to the HDMI or other AV network protocol that is coupledbetween the example meter 114 and the example media presentation device108. In some examples, the media interface 230 can extract messagestransmitted over the AV network protocol, analyze the message, and storethe relevant information in the data store 214. In other examples, themedia interface 230 polls the bus monitor 228 for analyzed informationcorresponding to the operating state characteristics of the activedevice and stores the analyzed information in the data store 214.

The example media presentation device 108 of the illustrated example ofFIG. 2B may include a user interface 216 that may include one or morepush buttons, keys, switches, knobs, etc. to provide signal inputsand/or commands to the media presentation device 108. The user interface216 may also include a liquid crystal display to provide visual feedbackto a user (e.g., the panelists 104, 106). The media presentation device108 may also include a remote control receiver 218 to receive signals(e.g., infrared or radio frequency) containing commands and/or otherinformation transmitted by the remote control device 116. Commandsand/or other information received via the user interface 216 and/or theremote control receiver 218 are conveyed via a data bus 220 to aprocessor 222. The panelists 104, 106 may use the remote control device116 (e.g., a universal remote control) that transmits to the mediapresentation device 108 commands and/or other information intended to betransmitted via the AV network to another AV device (e.g., the DVR 112).The processor 222 controls the operation of the media presentationdevice 108 based on the commands and/or other information received viathe data bus 220.

The media presentation device 108 may also send and receive commandsand/or other information via the AV network with an AV networkcontroller 224. The AV network controller 224 is capable of exchangingcommands and/or other information with other AV network devices (e.g.,the television 108, the DVR 112, etc.) via the AV network usingcommunications compliant with any desired protocol such as, for example,HDMI-CEC. The AV network controller 224 may be implemented within in asingle integrated circuit, with multiple integrated circuits or combinedwithin an integrated circuit with other functionality. The processor 222and the AV network controller 224 communicate via a bus 226, which maybe implemented as an Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C) bus or any other buscapable of transmitting data between integrated circuits. Commandsreceived by the remote control receiver 218 and/or the manual userinterface 216 may be processed by the processor 222 and transferred viathe bus 226 or via an additional data bus such as the data bus 220.Although the data buses 220 and 226 are depicted as separate buses, thefunctionality of these buses may be implemented using a single bus. Theexample operating state identifier 221 also includes a bus monitor 228implemented within the processor 222 and is designed to extract messagesconveyed between networked AV devices via the bus 226.

In the illustrated example, the operating state identifier 221implemented within the media presentation device 108 is configured toidentify the operating state of any AV device communicatively coupled tothe AV network. The operating state identifier 221 identifies theoperating state of an AV device by monitoring messages transmitted viathe bus 226, extracting messages transmitted via the bus 226 between theprocessor 222 and the AV network controller 224, analyzing the extractedmessages and requesting any missing information associated with theoperating state of the AV device. The operating state identifier 221 mayidentify the operating state of an AV device on the AV network byanalyzing the extracted messages along with any missing informationreturned by the AV device.

To examine the illustrated example in more detail, the operating stateidentifier 221 may be used to identify the operating statecharacteristics of an AV device (e.g., media presentation device 108,the STB 110, the DVR 112, etc.) on the AV network that is activelyproviding media content to a media presentation device 108 (e.g., thetelevision 108) consumed (e.g., viewed and/or listened to) by thepanelists 104, 106. Further, the operating state identifier 221, asillustrated, is implemented within the processor 222 of the mediapresentation device 108 but could be implemented within a processorwithin any device communicatively coupled to the AV network.

A panelist 104, 106 may interact with the media presentation device 108via the user interface 216 (e.g., by operating buttons, keys, switchesor knobs) or via a remote control device 116 via the remote controlreceiver 218, or a combination of these interfaces. The remote controldevice 116 (FIG. 1), for example, may be a universal remote controlcapable of communication with one or more AV devices (e.g., the mediapresentation device 108, the STB 110, and/or the DVR 112) connected tothe AV network. Commands and/or messages received via the user interface216 or the remote control receiver 218 are transmitted via the bus 220to the processor 222 for processing. For example, the processor 222 mayprocess a command to determine whether the command is intended to bereceived and processed by the media presentation device 108 or furthertransmitted via the AV network to another AV device for processing. Ifthe command is transmitted to another AV device (e.g., STB 110 or theDVR 112), the processor 222 conveys a message to the AV networkcontroller 224 via the bus 226 that includes the DVR 112 as the messagedestination. As noted above, the buses 226 and 220 are shown asindependent buses, but the functionality of these buses may beimplemented within a single bus.

The example bus monitor 228 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Bmonitors communications (e.g., messages) conveyed on the bus 226 andextracts information associated with the commands and/or messagesconveyed between the AV network controller 224 and the processor 222.The commands and/or messages may be associated with the operation of anydevice communicatively coupled to the AV network, including the mediapresentation device 108. Additionally, the bus monitor 228 provides theextracted information associated with the commands and/or messages tothe media interface 230 when requested and/or queried.

Further, the bus monitor 228 analyzes the extracted messages and mayrequest missing information that may be used to identify the operatingstate of an AV device. The missing information may include, but is notlimited to, commands provided to the AV device through the userinterface 216 or messages transmitted through a remote control directlyto the AV device and not conveyed via the AV network. For example, thepanelists 104, 106 (FIG. 1) may select a channel of a tuner implementedwithin the STB 110 via a button on the user interface 216. The busmonitor 228, for example, may request the missing information as aresult of the analysis performed on the extracted messages or atpredetermined time intervals. The bus monitor 228 then identifies theoperating state of the AV device (e.g., the media presentation device108, the STB 100, the DVR 112) by analyzing the extracted messages alongwith the missing information received in response to the request.

The messages transmitted via the AV network contain fields that indicatethe message source (e.g., the logical address of the AV device sendingthe message), the message destination (e.g., the logical address of theAV device intended as the recipient of the message) and an operationcode (e.g., a command to the destination device or a request for statusinformation). In some examples, when a message is analyzed by the busmonitor 228, the information provided in the message is extracted,analyzed, time stamped, and stored in a memory of the processor 222. Theexample memory may be utilized to refer to when communicatinginformation to the example meter 114, such as information correspondingto operating state characteristics of the AV device at certain times.

Turning to FIG. 2C, the example media measurement data controller 212 isillustrated to identify an AOT classification of media data and performforward pass and/or backward pass on the AOT media data. The examplemedia measurement data controller 212 of FIG. 2C includes an example AOTidentifier 232, an example operating state identifier 234, an examplerecord updater 236, an example comparator 238, an example duplicator240, and an example media data transmitter 242.

The example AOT identifier 232 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Creceives media identification from the example media identifier 204(FIG. 2A) and people identification from the example people identifier210 (FIG. 2A) and determines if the media data has been identified orclassified as AOT. For example, the AOT identifier 232 determines ifmedia data has been tagged with a television broadcasts, radiobroadcasts, advertisements (television and/or radio), downloaded media,streaming media, prepackaged media, etc. If the media data is not taggedwith respective identification data, then the media data is identifiedat AOT, and a notification may be provided to the example operatingstate identifier 234 to initiate operating state characteristicretrieval from the example media interface 230. If the media data istagged with respective identification data, the example AOT identifier232 forwards the identified media data to the example record updater 236to store the identified media data as a record in the example data store214.

The example operating state identifier 234 of the illustrated example ofFIG. 2C receives a request from the example AOT identifier 232 toinitiate operating state characteristic retrieval of the example mediainterface 230. For example, the AOT identifier 232 receives new mediadata and notifies the operating state identifier 234 to query the mediainterface 230 for operating state characteristics of the active deviceat the time the example media identifier 204 processed signals from theexample image sensor 201 and/or the example audio sensor 202 andprovided the processed signals to the example media measurement datacontroller 212. The example operating state identifier 234 may beinitiated when media data is classified as AOT and when media data isidentified. In this manner, the operating state identifier 234 retrievesthe operating state characteristics from the media interface 230 andstores the information in the example data store 214 along with a timestamp. In some examples, the operating state identifier 234 receivestuning data, determines the active device (e.g., the STB 110, the TV108, the DVR 112) and determines the state of the active device (e.g.,On/Off) to classify the media data. For example, if the operating stateidentifier 234 determines the active device is not on, the operatingstate identifier notifies the record updater 236 to create an AOTrecord. Additionally or alternatively, the operating state identifier234 may notify the comparator to compare operating state characteristicsat different time stamps for a forward pass operation or a backward passoperation.

The example record updater 236 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Ccreates and updates records in the example data store 214. For example,the record updater 236 receives media data from the AOT identifier 232and operating state characteristics from the example operating stateidentifier 234 and creates a record with a time stamp to store in theexample data store 214. In some examples, the record updater 236replaces an initial record, such as a record with AOT data. For example,the record updater 236 may be prompted during a forward pass operationand/or a backward pass operation to replace an AOT data record with anidentified media data record. In this manner, the data store 214includes up-to-date records for subsequent transmission to the examplecentral facility 190. The example record updater 236 may periodicallyand/or a-periodically notify the example media data transmitter 242 totransmit the media measurement information stored in the data store 214to the central facility 190 for post-processing.

The example comparator 238 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2C isinitiated during forward pass operation and/or backward pass operationto compare operating state characteristics of records at different timestamps. For example, the record updater 236 may initialize a variable“T” to be equal to 2, wherein T corresponds to a time, and 2 correspondsto the first record in the data store 214 classified as AOT data. Inthis manner, the example comparator 238 retrieves the record at time Tand a record at time T−1, wherein the record at time T−1 is the recordstored at a time before T. The example comparator 238 analyzes the tworecords to determine similarities. For example, the comparator 238compares the operating state characteristics, such as channelinformation, to determine if T has equal channel information to T−1. Insome examples, the comparator 238 queries the data store 214 for mediaidentifying data at time T−1 when the channel information at T−1 and Tare equal. In this manner, the example comparator 238 can identify mediaat time T if the example comparator 238 retrieves media identifying dataat time T−1.

The example duplicator 240 of the illustrated example of FIG. 2Cduplicates media identifying data when requested by the examplecomparator 238. The example duplicator 240 may receive media identifyingdata from the example comparator 238 and make a second copy of the mediaidentifying data to provide to the example record updater 236. Forexample, the comparator 238 notifies the duplicator 240 that mediaidentifying data was retrieved at from the record stored at time T−1,the duplicator 240 makes a copy of the media identifying data, andprovides the copy to the record updater 236 to replace the AOT data inthe record stored at time T with the copy of the media identifying data.In this manner, the example record updater 236 removes the AOT data fromthe data store 214 and inserts the copied media identifying data intothe record with the timestamp T.

The example media data transmitter 242 of the illustrated example ofFIG. 2C transmits the records in the example data store 214 to theexample communication processor 208 (FIG. 2A). The example media datatransmitter 242 is notified by the example record updater 236 whenprocessing of the records in the data store 214 have been completed. Forexample, when forward pass and backward pass have been performed on allrecords in the data store 214, the media data is ready to be transmittedto the central facility 190 for further processing. In some examples,the media data transmitter 242 is queried by the example communicationprocessor 208 for media data stored in the data store 214.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate data tables that may be representative ofinformation stored in the example data store 214. For example, FIG. 3Ais representative of the media presentation device activity and isillustrated as a table with a variety of headers and time stamps. Theexample media measurement data controller 212 and the example mediainterface 230 stores information corresponding to time (302), TV 108On/Off state (304), video status (306), audio status (308), volume(310), match (e.g., media identified status)(312), major/minor channel(314), and the broadcast network (316) in the example data store 214.FIG. 3B is representative of meter data (e.g., data determined bydevices of the example meter 114) and is illustrated as a table with avariety of headers and timestamps. The example media measurement datacontroller 212 and the example media interface 230 stores informationcorresponding to time (302). TV 108 On/Off state (304), video status(306), source (318), major/minor channel (314), audio codes (320), codeidentifier (322), and signatures (324).

Turning to FIG. 3A, the time 302 corresponds to the time the examplemedia identifier 204 receives and analyzes media data and provides tothe media measurement data controller to create a record of media data.For example, the data store 214 collects media data from 6:00 pm to 7:45pm in intervals of five minutes (e.g., 300 seconds). In some examples,the time 302 is referenced to for performing forward pass and backwardpass operations on the media data classified as AOT data.

In the data store 214 of FIG. 3A, the video status column 306 and theaudio status column 308 are determined by the example image sensor 201and the example audio sensor 202 of the example meter 114. For example,if the image sensor 201 is receiving variations of light waves at thefirst time of 6:00 pm, the video status column 306 is labeled “YES.”Alternatively, example current sensing attachments of the meter 114, notdescribed herein, may detect a constant electrical current from theactive device, indicative of presented video. In this manner, theexample video status column 306 is labeled “YES.” If the image sensor201 is not receiving variations of light waves at the first time of 6:00pm, the video status column 306 will labeled as “NO.” Similarly, if theexample audio sensor 202 is receiving ambient audio or not receivingambient audio, the audio status column 308 will be labeled accordingly.

In the data store 214 of FIG. 3A, the TV On/Off 304 column, the volumecolumn 310, and the major/minor channel column 314 each correspond toinformation received from the AV network controller 224 by the mediainterface 230 about the active state of the example media presentationdevice 108. For example, the measurement media data controller 212notifies the media interface 230 to extract information from the AVnetwork, using for example HDMI-CEC protocol, at the first time of 6:00pm to determine if the media presentation device 108 is on, if thevolume is normal, and what the channel is at that time. The examplemedia interface 230 may analyze the messages on the AV network protocolor may query the example bus monitor 228 for faster data transfer to theexample data store 214.

In some examples, when the major/minor channel information is extracted,the major/minor channel column 314 may be indicative of a frequency bandvariable corresponding to the tuned channel. For example, the frequencyband is an interval in the frequency domain that carries media content,such as a television broadcast, a radio broadcast, etc., to bedistributed via the media presentation device 108 to the panelists 104,106. The example major/minor channel column 314 can be utilized toidentify the AOT data as a particular media source for media ratings.For example, the major/minor channel column 314 can be referred toduring the forward pass and backward pass operation in the meter 114 andat the central facility 190.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3A, the broadcast network 316 may bedetermined by the example media identifier 204 when the example mediaidentifier 204 analyzes the incoming audio signals and video signalsfrom the image sensor 201 and audio sensor 202. For example, the mediaidentifier 204 performs watermarking and signature techniques toidentify the media (e.g., broadcast network) presented to the panelists104, 106 by extracting the code or signature from the incoming audio andvideo signals and matching them to reference broadcast audio and videodata that are stored in a reference database. When the example mediaidentifier 204 identifies the media data, the example media measurementdata controller 212 stores the identified media data in the data store214 along with a time stamp of the record. In this manner, the mediameasurement data controller 212 labels the match column 312 with a “YES”when the media was identified. If the media data was not identified bythe media identifier 204, the example media measurement data controller212 will store the record as AOT data in the data store 214 at theparticular time of AOT identification and label the match column 312 as“NO.”

Turning to FIG. 3B, the tv on/off column 304, the video status column306, the major/minor channel column 314, and the source 318 column aredetermined by the AV network controller 224 using, for example, anHDMI-CEC protocol. For example, the AV network controller 224 utilizesthe HDMI-CEC protocol to determine the source that is presenting mediato the panelists 104, 106. In FIG. 3B, the AV network controller 224informs the media interface 230 that the source of media is a STB 110,therefore the source column 318 is populated with STB.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3B, the example audio code column 320is determined by the media identifier 204 of the example meter 114. Forexample, if the audio of the presented media includes embedded audiocodes, the example media identifier 204 can detect the audio code anddetermine the code identifier (e.g., the broadcast network, a televisionnetwork, etc.) for storing in the example datastore 214. The audio codecolumn 320 and the code identifier column 322 can be utilized by theexample media measurement data controller 212 to determine when themedia identifier 204 did not extract and identify an audio codeidentifier.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3B, the example signatures column 324which can be determined by the example media identifier 204. Forexample, signatures are representative of a media signal (e.g., an audiosignal and/or a video signal) output by a monitored media device andcompared to one or more reference signatures corresponding to known(e.g., reference) media sources. The example media measurement datacontroller 212 populates the signatures column 324 with a “YES” whensignatures are matched and a “NO” when signatures are not matched. Thesignatures column 324 may be utilized by the media example AOTidentifier 232 of the example media measurement data controller 212 toinform when media identifying data was not identified.

In some examples, when the meter 114 is collecting live monitoringrecords, the media measurement data controller 212 is receivingidentified or unidentified media records from the media identifier 204and further performing a forward pass operation to identify theunidentified media records. For example, while the meter 114 iscollecting the live monitoring records, time is moving forward, and therecords are being stored in the data store 214. During forward passoperation, the example media measurement data controller 212 determinesthat media data was unidentified (e.g., classified as AOT data) and, inresponse to such a determination, checks the data store 214 foroperating state characteristics of the active device during the time ofthe unidentified media data. For example, the media measurement datacontroller 212 may initially determine that the active device was on andpresenting video (e.g., tv On/Off column 304 and video status column306) but was not presenting audio (e.g., audio status column 308). Inthis manner, the example media measurement data controller 212 queriesthe major/minor channel column 314 at the time of the unidentified mediaand at a time before the unidentified media to compare the channelinformation at each time. If the media measurement data controller 212determines the channel frequency variable at the time of theunidentified data equals the channel frequency variable at the timebefore the unidentified data, then the example media measurement datacontroller 212 queries the match column 312 to determine if the timebefore the unidentified data was matched (e.g., identified as a mediastream, a broadcast network, etc.). If the media measurement datacontroller 212 determines the time before the unidentified data wasidentified as a specific media, then the media measurement datacontroller 212 duplicates and time stamps the identified media, updatesthe unidentified record, and stores it in the example data store 214.Further, the example meter 114 continues to collect live monitoringrecords as the media presentation device 108 is presenting media to thepanelists 104, 106.

In other examples, the media measurement data controller 212 may notperform forward pass operation as the meter 114 is collecting livemonitoring records. For example, when the media identifier 204identifies media data as AOT data, the media measurement data controller212 stores the AOT data in the data store 214 and does not query thedata store 214 for further classification of the AOT data. Instead,however, the example media measurement data controller 212 determineswhen no additional records are to be received and further performsforward pass and backward pass operation on the records stored in theexample data store 214.

When the example data store 214 reaches is maximum capacity of records,the example media measurement data controller 212 is notified andtransmits the stored records to the central facility 190 via the network180. In other examples, the media measurement data controller 212queries the media interface 230 for determining if the active device isturned off and no video or audio is present, which may indicate thereare no additional records to be collected. In this manner the examplemedia measurement data controller 212 and the communication processor208 transmits the records located in the data store 214 to the centralfacility 190 via the network communicator 206 and the network 180. Forexample, if the active device is off there is no data to gathercorresponding to the media, and data collection is complete for a timeuntil the active device is turned back on and the panelists 104, 106 areviewing media.

While an example manner of implementing the meter 114 and mediapresentation device 108 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIGS. 2A 2B, and 2Cone or more of the elements, processes and/or devices illustrated inFIGS. 2A 2B, and 2C may be combined, divided, re-arranged, omitted,eliminated and/or implemented in any other way. Further, the examplemedia identifier 204, the example network communicator 206, the examplecommunication processor 208, the example people identifier 210, theexample media measurement data controller 212, the example data store214, the example user interface 216, the example remote controllerreceiver 218, the example processor 222, the example AV networkcontroller 224, the example bus monitor 228, the example media interface230, the example AOT identifier 232, the example operating stateidentifier 234, the example record updater 236, the example comparator238, the example duplicator 240, the example media data transmitter 242and/or, more generally, the example media presentation device 108 andmeter 114 of FIG. 1 may be implemented by hardware, software, firmwareand/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, forexample, any of the example media identifier 204, the example networkcommunicator 206, the example communication processor 208, the examplepeople identifier 210, the example media measurement data controller212, the example data store 214, the example user interface 216, theexample remote controller receiver 218, the example processor 222, theexample AV network controller 224, the example bus monitor 228, theexample media interface 230, the example AOT identifier 232, the exampleoperating state identifier 234, the example record updater 236, theexample comparator 238, the example duplicator 240, the example mediadata transmitter 242 and/or, more generally, the example mediapresentation device 108 and meter 114 could be implemented by one ormore analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmableprocessor(s), programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s)(GPU(s)), digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specificintegrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s))and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any ofthe apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example mediaidentifier 204, the example network communicator 206, the examplecommunication processor 208, the example people identifier 210, theexample media measurement data controller 212, the example data store214, the example user interface 216, the example remote controllerreceiver 218, the example processor 222, the example AV networkcontroller 224, the example bus monitor 228 the example media interface230, the example AOT identifier 232, the example operating stateidentifier 234, the example record updater 236, the example comparator238, the example duplicator 240, and/or the example media datatransmitter 242 is/are hereby expressly defined to include anon-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such asa memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-raydisk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, theexample media presentation device 108 and meter 114 of FIG. 1 mayinclude one or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to,or instead of, those illustrated in FIGS. 2A 2B, and 2C and/or mayinclude more than one of any or all of the illustrated elements,processes and devices. As used herein, the phrase “in communication,”including variations thereof, encompasses direct communication and/orindirect communication through one or more intermediary components, anddoes not require direct physical (e.g., wired) communication and/orconstant communication, but rather additionally includes selectivecommunication at periodic intervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodicintervals, and/or one-time events.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example implementation of theexample central facility 190 for post-processing of the records storedin the example data store 214 (FIG. 2A). The example central facility190 includes an example metering data receiver 402, an example meteringdata database 404, and example media measurement data controller 412,and an example report generator 414.

The example metering data receiver 402 of the illustrated example ofFIG. 4 receives metering data from the example meter 114 (FIG. 1). Forexample, the metering data may be the records stored in the example datastore 214 (FIG. 2A) that we were transmitted via the network 180. Inother examples, the metering data may include a plurality of recordsfrom a plurality of meters 114 installed in multiple households. Theexample metering data receiver 402 allocates the metering data toappropriate locations in the example metering data database 404 forfurther analyzing of the records from the meter 114. The examplemetering data receiver 402 may communicate with meter(s) 114 to acquiremetering data when the central facility 190 determines a reports are tobe generated for advertisers, program producers, and/or other interestedparties.

The example metering data database 404 of the illustrated example ofFIG. 4 stores the metering data received by the example metering datareceiver 402. The example metering data database 404 may be implementedby any device for storing data such as, for example, flash memory,magnetic media, optical media, etc. Furthermore, the data stored in theexample metering data database 404 may be in any data format such as,for example, binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data,structured query language (SQL) structures, etc.

The example media measurement data controller 412 of the illustratedexample of FIG. 4 analyzes metering data that is stored in example themetering data database 404. In some examples, upon receiving meteringdata, in response to execution of a command from the metering datareceiver 402, and/or other events within the media measurement datacontroller 412, the media measurement data controller 412 may initiateforward pass and backward pass operation on the records stored in themetering data database 404 to classify any metering data flagged as AOTdata or unidentifiable meter data.

For example, the metering data database 404 may store operating statecharacteristics provided by the data store 214, wherein each recordincludes corresponding operating state characteristics. When the examplemedia measurement data controller 412 initiates forward pass operation,the example media measurement data controller 412 begins at a first timeand determines if the record at the first time is a match “YES” (e.g.,the media data has been identified) or a match “NO” (e.g., the mediadata is classified as AOT data). If the media measurement datacontroller 412 determines the record is a match “YES,” then the mediameasurement data controller 412 moves forward to analyze the nextrecord. If the media measurement data controller 412 determines therecord is not a match “NO,” then the media measurement data controller412 analyzes a record before the current record to determine operatingstate characteristics and further determine if the previous recordincludes identified media identifying data that can be duplicated torepresent the unidentified media at the current record.

After the example media measurement data controller 412 analyzes eachrecord with the forward pass operation, the example media measurementdata controller 412 initiates backward pass operation. For example, themedia measurement data controller 412 analyzes the records in themetering data database 404 by analyzing the first record to determine ifthe first record was identified or unidentified (e.g., querying thematch column 312). If the media measurement data controller 412determines the first record was unidentified or flagged as AOT data, theexample media measurement data controller 412 analyzes the record storeddirectly after the current record to acquire operating statecharacteristic information as well as if the future record wasidentified. If the operating state characteristics (e.g., such as thechannel information column 314) match in the current record and thefuture record, then the example media measurement data controller 412duplicates the future record, time stamps the new duplicated record witha time of the current record and updates the record in the metering datadatabase 404 (e.g., removes the AOT data record and replaces the AOTdata record with an identified media record, such as “WFLA” broadcastnetwork).

The example report generator 414 in the illustrated example of FIG. 4generates media ratings reports to be viewed an analyzed by advertisers,program producers, and/or other interested parties. In some examples,when the media measurement data controller 412 performs forward pass andbackward pass operation on the records stored in the metering datadatabase 404, the example report generator 414 is notified by a message,a query, etc., to generate a viewable report of the metering data.Additionally, the example report generator 414 retrieves the recordsstored in the example metering data database 404 and organizes the datainto a format that is understood by a viewer. The example reportgenerator 414 may not include operating state characteristics of theactive devices that produced the media data. By performingclassification operations (e.g., forward pass and backward pass) at thecentral facility 190, the overall accuracy of the media ratingsincreases because more media data is identified and not represented asAOT data.

While an example manner of implementing the central facility 190 of FIG.1 is illustrated in FIG. 4, one or more of the elements, processesand/or devices illustrated in FIG. 4 may be combined, divided,re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way.Further, the example metering data receiver 402, the example mediameasurement data controller 412, the example report generator 414,and/or, more generally, the example central facility of FIG. 1 may beimplemented by hardware, software, firmware and/or any combination ofhardware, software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of theexample metering data receiver 402, the example media measurement datacontroller 412, the example report generator 414 and/or, more generally,the example central facility 190 could be implemented by one or moreanalog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s),programmable controller(s), graphics processing unit(s) (GPU(s)),digital signal processor(s) (DSP(s)), application specific integratedcircuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example meteringdata receiver 402, the example media measurement data controller 412,and/or the example report generator 414 is/are hereby expressly definedto include a non-transitory computer readable storage device or storagedisk such as a memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk(CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc. including the software and/or firmware.Further still, the example central facility 190 of FIG. 1 may includeone or more elements, processes and/or devices in addition to, orinstead of, those illustrated in FIG. 4, and/or may include more thanone of any or all of the illustrated elements, processes and devices. Asused herein, the phrase “in communication.” including variationsthereof, encompasses direct communication and/or indirect communicationthrough one or more intermediary components, and does not require directphysical (e.g., wired) communication and/or constant communication, butrather additionally includes selective communication at periodicintervals, scheduled intervals, aperiodic intervals, and/or one-timeevents.

Flowcharts representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the example meter 114 and theexample media presentation device 108 of FIG. 1 is shown in FIGS. 5, 6,7 and/or 8. The machine readable instructions may be one or moreexecutable programs or portion(s) of an executable program for executionby a computer processor such as the processor 1012, 1112 shown in theexample processor platform 1000, 1100 discussed below in connection withFIG. 10 and/or 11. The program may be embodied in software stored on anon-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, afloppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associatedwith the processor 1012, 1112, but the entire program and/or partsthereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than theprocessor 1012, 1112 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware.Further, although the example program is described with reference to theflowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and/or 8, many other methods ofimplementing the example meter 114 and the example media presentationdevice 108 may alternatively be used. For example, the order ofexecution of the blocks may be changed, and/or some of the blocksdescribed may be changed, eliminated, or combined. Additionally oralternatively, any or all of the blocks may be implemented by one ormore hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/or integrated analog and/ordigital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, a comparator, anoperational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.) structured toperform the corresponding operation without executing software orfirmware.

The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in oneor more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmentedformat, a packaged format, etc. Machine readable instructions asdescribed herein may be stored as data (e.g., portions of instructions,code, representations of code, etc.) that may be utilized to create,manufacture, and/or produce machine executable instructions. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be fragmented and storedon one or more storage devices and/or computing devices (e.g., servers).The machine readable instructions may require one or more ofinstallation, modification, adaptation, updating, combining,supplementing, configuring, decryption, decompression, unpacking,distribution, reassignment, etc. in order to make them directly readableand/or executable by a computing device and/or other machine. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be stored in multipleparts, which are individually compressed, encrypted, and stored onseparate computing devices, wherein the parts when decrypted,decompressed, and combined form a set of executable instructions thatimplement a program such as that described herein. In another example,the machine readable instructions may be stored in a state in which theymay be read by a computer, but require addition of a library (e.g., adynamic link library (DLL)), a software development kit (SDK), anapplication programming interface (API), etc. in order to execute theinstructions on a particular computing device or other device. Inanother example, the machine readable instructions may need to beconfigured (e.g., settings stored, data input, network addressesrecorded, etc.) before the machine readable instructions and/or thecorresponding program(s) can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, thedisclosed machine readable instructions and/or corresponding program(s)are intended to encompass such machine readable instructions and/orprogram(s) regardless of the particular format or state of the machinereadable instructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at restor in transit.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and/or 8 maybe implemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/ormachine readable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computerand/or machine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flashmemory, a read-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, acache, a random-access memory and/or any other storage device or storagedisk in which information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extendedtime periods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarilybuffering, and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, theterm non-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined toinclude any type of computer readable storage device and/or storage diskand to exclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

A flowchart representative of example hardware logic, machine readableinstructions, hardware implemented state machines, and/or anycombination thereof for implementing the central facility 190 of FIG. 1is shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and/or 9. The machine readable instructions maybe one or more executable programs or portion(s) of an executableprogram for execution by a computer processor such as the processor 1112shown in the example processor platform 1100 discussed below inconnection with FIG. 11. The program may be embodied in software storedon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, afloppy disk, a hard drive, a DVD, a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associatedwith the processor 1112, but the entire program and/or parts thereofcould alternatively be executed by a device other than the processor1112 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further,although the example program is described with reference to theflowchart illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8, and/or 9, many other methods ofimplementing the example central facility 190 may alternatively be used.For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/orsome of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined.Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may beimplemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/orintegrated analog and/or digital circuitry, an FPGA, an ASIC, acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware.

The machine readable instructions described herein may be stored in oneor more of a compressed format, an encrypted format, a fragmentedformat, a packaged format, etc. Machine readable instructions asdescribed herein may be stored as data (e.g., portions of instructions,code, representations of code, etc.) that may be utilized to create,manufacture, and/or produce machine executable instructions. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be fragmented and storedon one or more storage devices and/or computing devices (e.g., servers).The machine readable instructions may require one or more ofinstallation, modification, adaptation, updating, combining,supplementing, configuring, decryption, decompression, unpacking,distribution, reassignment, etc. in order to make them directly readableand/or executable by a computing device and/or other machine. Forexample, the machine readable instructions may be stored in multipleparts, which are individually compressed, encrypted, and stored onseparate computing devices, wherein the parts when decrypted,decompressed, and combined form a set of executable instructions thatimplement a program such as that described herein. In another example,the machine readable instructions may be stored in a state in which theymay be read by a computer, but require addition of a library (e.g., adynamic link library (DLL)), a software development kit (SDK), anapplication programming interface (API), etc. in order to execute theinstructions on a particular computing device or other device. Inanother example, the machine readable instructions may need to beconfigured (e.g., settings stored, data input, network addressesrecorded, etc.) before the machine readable instructions and/or thecorresponding program(s) can be executed in whole or in part. Thus, thedisclosed machine readable instructions and/or corresponding program(s)are intended to encompass such machine readable instructions and/orprogram(s) regardless of the particular format or state of the machinereadable instructions and/or program(s) when stored or otherwise at restor in transit.

As mentioned above, the example process of FIGS. 7, 8, and/or 9 may beimplemented using executable instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.

“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim employs any formof “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises, includes, comprising,including, having, etc.) as a preamble or within a claim recitation ofany kind, it is to be understood that additional elements, terms, etc.may be present without falling outside the scope of the correspondingclaim or recitation. As used herein, when the phrase “at least” is usedas the transition term in, for example, a preamble of a claim, it isopen-ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and “including”are open ended. The term “and/or” when used, for example, in a form suchas A, B, and/or C refers to any combination or subset of A, B, C such as(1) A alone, (2) B alone, (3) C alone, (4) A with B, (5) A with C, (6) Bwith C, and (7) A with B and with C. As used herein in the context ofdescribing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A and B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. Similarly, as used herein in the contextof describing structures, components, items, objects and/or things, thephrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer to implementationsincluding any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B, and (3) atleast one A and at least one B. As used herein in the context ofdescribing the performance or execution of processes, instructions,actions, activities and/or steps, the phrase “at least one of A and B”is intended to refer to implementations including any of (1) at leastone A, (2) at least one B, and (3) at least one A and at least one B.Similarly, as used herein in the context of describing the performanceor execution of processes, instructions, actions, activities and/orsteps, the phrase “at least one of A or B” is intended to refer toimplementations including any of (1) at least one A, (2) at least one B,and (3) at least one A and at least one B.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representing the example meter 114 incommunication with the example media presentation device 108 to classifymedia data. The program of FIG. 5 begins when the example mediainterface 230 receives tuning data from the AV network controller 224.(Block 502). For example, the AV network controller 224 providesmajor/minor channel information (e.g., tuning data) to the mediainterface 230 to store in the example data store 214. Alternatively, theprogram of FIG. 5 may begin when the example operating state identifier234 receives tuning data from the example media interface 230.

The example operating state identifier 234 receives information from theexample media interface 230 to determine the active device (block 504).For example, the bus monitor 228 monitors communications (e.g.,messages) conveyed on the bus 226 and extracts information associatedwith the commands and/or messages conveyed between the AV networkcontroller 224 and the processor 222, wherein the commands and/ormessages may be associated with the operation of any devicecommunicatively coupled to the AV network, including the STB 110.

The example operating state identifier 234 further determines the stateof the active device (block 506). For example, the operating stateidentifier 234 notifies the media interface 230 to query the AV networkcontroller 224 to retrieve information from the bus monitor 228 fordetermining if the active device is on or off and stores the conclusionin the example data store 214 along with a time stamp to indicate thetime at which the active device was on or off. If the example operatingstate identifier 234 determines the active device is not on (e.g., block508 returns a result of NO), the example AOT identifier 232 classifiesthe media data as AOT. (Block 510). For example, if the active device isOff but the meter 114 is still receiving media data, then then mediaidentifier 204 will not be able to match the received audio or video toany audio or video in a remote database.

If the example operating state identifier 234 receives information fromthe media interface 230 determining the active device is on (e.g., block508 returns a result of YES), the example operating state identifier 234determines if video is present. (Block 512). For example, the imagesensor 201 may be receiving video signals, pixel intensity values, etc.,indicating that the media presentation device 108 is displayingsomething to the panelists 104, 106. If the operating state identifier234 determines video is not present (e.g., block 512 returns a result ofNO), the example AOT identifier 232 classifies the media data as AOT.(Block 510). For example, if video is not present, the panelists 104,106 are not viewing any media and a record is stored in the data store214 as AOT data.

If the example image sensor 201 is receiving variations of light wavesindicating video is present (e.g., block 512 returns a result of YES),the example media identifier 204 identifies the media identifying data.(Block 514). For example, the media identifier 204 processes the signalsobtained from the media presentation device 108 to detect media and/orsource identifying signals (e.g., video watermarks) embedded inportion(s) (e.g., image portions) of the media presented by the mediapresentation device 108. The example media identifier 204 determines ifthe media identifying data was identified. (Block 516). For example, thevideo and/or audio watermark or signature are compared to identifyingsignals in a remote database and may or may not include a match. In thismanner, if the media identifying data does not include a match, themedia cannot be identified and the example media identifier 204classifies the media data as AOT data (Block 510).

The example media measurement data controller 212 further performsforward pass (block 524) on the media data classified as AOT data. Forexample, the AOT identifier 232 can initiate forward pass operatingduring live collection of media data by notifying the example comparator238 to analyze operating state characteristics of the AV device at thetime the record is classified as AOT data and at a time prior to whenthe record was classified as AOT data. The example performance of theforward pass (Block 524) is represented with a dashed line to indicatethat forward pass is optional, and might not occur at the time the mediadata is classified as AOT data but may, instead, occur at a later timeand/or be performed by another device (e.g., the server of the centralfacility 190).

When the example media measurement data controller 212 classifies themedia data (e.g., either at the media identifier 204 or during forwardpass operation), then the example record updater 236 creates a record ofthe media identifying data (Block 518), timestamps the record (Block520), and stores the record in the data store 214 (Block 522). Theprocess of FIG. 5 ends when the record is stored in the example datastore 214. (Block 522). The program of FIG. 5 is repeated until tuningdata and/or media data is no longer received by the example AOTidentifier 232, for example, indicating there is no media to collectand/or process.

The meter-side tuning data classification program of FIG. 5 beings atblock 502 when the example meter 114 collects live monitoring records.(Block 602). For example, the image sensor 201 (FIG. 2A) and the audiosensor 202 (FIG. 2A) receive media data from the media presentationdevice 108 (FIG. 1) in real time and the media identifier 204 (FIG. 2A)identifies the media data and provides the identified media data to themedia measurement data controller 212 (FIG. 2A) to create records of themeter data and store the records in the data store 214. In someexamples, the media identifier 204 does not identify the media data andthe example media measurement data controller 212 stores theunidentified media data as AOT data in the example data store 214. Forexample, the AOT identifier 232 (FIG. 2C) identifies the unidentifiedmedia data as AOT data and provides the AOT data to the example recordupdater 236 to store as a record in the example data store 214.

When the example record updater 236 creates the records of classifiedtuning data, the example record updater 236 determines if the datacollection is complete. (Block 604). For example, the data store 214 maynotify the example record updater 236 informing the record updater 236that capacity of data has been met and no further records can be stored.In other examples, the operating state identifier 234 (FIG. 2C) mayinitialize the media interface 230 (FIG. 2A) to retrieve informationfrom the AV network controller 224 (FIG. 2B) corresponding to the activedevice. For example, if the example operating state identifier 234and/or the media interface 230 determines the active device is off andno media is presented to the panelists 104, 106 then data collection iscomplete. If the example operating state identifier 234 and/or theexample media interface 230 determines that the data collection is notcomplete (e.g., block 504 returns a result of NO), the example meter 114continues to collect live monitoring records (block 602).

When the example meter 114 has completed data collection (e.g., block604 returns a result of YES), the example meter 114 performs a forwardpass on the stored records. (Block 506). For example, the mediameasurement data controller 212 analyzes records in data store 214 bydetermining an unidentified record flagged as AOT data and looking at aprevious record, not flagged as AOT data and further duplicating thatrecord to store in replace of the AOT data record. An example approachto performing a forward pass is described below in connection with FIG.7.

The example media measurement data controller 212 performs a backwardpass on the records. (Block 608). For example, the media measurementdata controller 212 analyzes records in data store 214 by determining anunidentified record flagged as AOT data and looking at a future record,not flagged as AOT data and further duplicating that record to store inplace of the AOT data record. An example approach to performing abackward pass is described in further detail below in connection withFIG. 8.

The example communication processor 208 then transmits the records tothe central facility 190 (Block 610). For example, the communicationprocessor 208 packages the records of the data store 214 and providesthe package of data to the central facility 190 via the networkcommunicator 206 and the network 180. In some examples, the package is acompressed data format (e.g., a .ZIP file). The meter-sideclassification program ends when the package of records is provided tothe central facility 190. (Block 610). The meter-side classificationprogram may be repeated when the example meter 114 receives livemonitoring records from the example media presentation device 108.(Block 602).

FIG. 7 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions toperform a forward pass on the records of the example data store 214. Theforward pass program begins when the example AOT identifier 232determines a record has been classified as AOT data. The example recordupdater 236 initializes time T to be equal to the numerical value 2,which is indexed from numerical value 1. (Block 702). For example, timeT may represent the first time in the data store 214 when a record wasclassified as AOT data (e.g., referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, time 6:30 pmdid not have a match, therefore is was classified as AOT).Alternatively, the example record updater 236 initializes time T to beequal to any value or variable indicative of a time when a record wasclassified as AOT data.

The example record updater 236 identifies the record in the tuning dataat time T (block 704). For example, the record updater 236 identifieswhere the record is stored in the data store 214 at time T. Then, theexample comparator 238 (FIG. 2C) obtains channel information at time T(block 706). For example the comparator 238 retrieves information fromthe data store 214, at 6:30 pm, corresponding to the major/minor channelthe media presentation device 108 is tuned to, which is frequencyvariable 8.1.

The example comparator 238 further determines if the channel informationobtained for time T equals the channel information at time T−1 (block708). For example, time T−1 corresponds to the record stored at a timebefore time T (e.g., If 6:30 pm is time T, then 6:25 pm is time T−1 inthe data store 214 illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B). In this example, 5minute intervals are used, however, any other interval may additionallyor alternatively be used. If the example comparator 238 determines thechannel information at time T does not equal the channel information attime T−1 (e.g., block 708 returns a result of NO), then the examplerecord updater 236 analyzes additional records. (Block 722). If theexample comparator 238 determines the channel information at time T isequal to the channel information at time T−1 (e.g., block 708 returns aresult of YES), the example comparator 238 analyzes the data store 214for the media identifying data at time T−1. (Block 710). For example,the data store 214 includes the broadcast network column 316corresponding to identified media, such as a WFLA broadcast network.

The example comparator 238 searches the data store 214 for the record attime T−1 (e.g., time 6:25 pm) and determines if media identifying datais available at time T−1 (block 712). If the example comparator 238determines media identifying data is available at time T−1 (e.g., block712 returns a result of YES), the example duplicator 240 duplicates themedia identifying data from record at time T−1. (Block 716).

For example, because the active device was tuned to a channel (e.g.,frequency variable 8.1) at time T that was equal to a channel at timeT−1, but the media was undeterminable, it can be assumed that the mediapresented to the panelists 104, 106 at time T was the same mediapresented at time T−1.

The example record updater 236 updates the record at time T. (Block718). For example, the record updater 236 receives the duplicated mediafrom the duplicator 240 and replaces the AOT data record with theduplicated media identified data at time T. Further, the example recordupdater 236 stores the updated record in the data store 214. (Block720).

If the example comparator 238 determines media identifying data is notavailable at time T−1 (e.g., block 712 returns a result of NO), then therecord at time T is classified as AOT data (block 714) and the record isupdated at time T (block 718). When the example record updater 236 hasstored the updated record in the data store 214, the example recordupdater 236 determines if there are additional records in the data store214 (block 722) that are classified as AOT data. If the example recordupdater 236 determines there are additional records (e.g., block 722returns a result of YES), the example record updater 236 increments Tand the process returns to block 704. If the example record updater 236does not determine there are additional records (e.g., block 722 returnsa result of NO), the forward pass program ends. The forward pass programmay be repeated when the example AOT identifier 232 identifies a recordin the data store 214 as AOT data and/or after live monitoring recordshave been collected.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart representative of machine readable instructions toperform backward pass on the records of the example data store 214. Thebackward pass program begins after the example media measurement datacontroller 212 has performed forward pass but can be implemented tooccur before the forward pass program. The example record updater 236initializes time T to be equal to the numerical value N−1, where N isindicative of the number of records to process. (Block 802). Forexample, time T may represent the last time in the data store 214 when arecord was classified as AOT data. The record updater 236 starts withthe last time record in the data store 214 because backward pass is anoperation that moves back through time in the data store 214 to identifyany records marked as AOT and further try to identify those records asassociated with a media network.

The example record updater 236 identifies the record in the tuning dataat time T (block 804). For example, the record updater 236 identifieswhere the record is stored in the data store 214 at time T. Then, theexample comparator 238 obtains channel information at time T (block806). For example, in the data store 214, the major/minor channel column314 is queried for the channel information at time T.

The example comparator 238 further determines if the channel informationobtained for time T equals the channel information at time T−1. (Block808). For example, time T−1 corresponds to the record stored at a timebefore time T (e.g., If 7:45 pm is time T, then 7:40 pm is time T−1 inthe data store 214 illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B). If the examplecomparator 238 determines the channel information does not equal thechannel information at time T−1 (e.g., Block 808 returns a result ofNO), then the record updater 236 analyzes additional records. (Block822). If the example comparator 238 determines the channel informationis equal to the channel information at time T−1 (e.g., Block 808 returnsa result of YES), then the comparator 238 queries the data store 214 formedia identifying data at time T−1. (Block 810). For example, the datastore 214 includes the broadcast network column 316 corresponding toidentified media, such as WFLA broadcast network.

The example comparator 238 searches the data store 214 for the record attime T−1 (e.g., time 7:40 pm) and determines if media identifying datais available at time T−1. (Block 812). For example, if there was a match“YES.” then a media type is indicated in the broadcast network column316. The example duplicator 240 duplicates the media identifying datafrom record at time T−1. (Block 816). For example, because the activedevice was tuned to a channel at time T that was equal to a channel attime T−1, but the media was undeterminable, it can be assumed that themedia presented to the panelists 104, 106 at time T was the same mediapresented at time T−1.

The example record updater 236 updates the record at time T. (Block818). For example, the record updater 236 replaces the AOT data recordwith the duplicated media identified data at time T. Further, theexample record updater 236 stores the updated record in the data store214. (Block 820).

If the example comparator determines media identifying data is notavailable at time T−1 (e.g., Block 812 returns a result of NO), then therecord at time T is further classified as AOT data (block 814) and therecord is updated at time T (block 818). When the example record updater236 has stored the updated record in the data store 214, the examplerecord updater 236 determines if there are additional records in thedata store 214 (block 822) that are classified as AOT data. If theexample media measurement data controller 212 determines there areadditional records (e.g., block 822 returns a result of YES), theexample record updater 236 decrements T (block 826) and the processreturns to block 804. If the example record updater 236 does notdetermine there are additional records (e.g., block 822 returns a resultof NO), the backward pass program ends.

FIG. 9 is representative of machine readable instructions that are to beexecuted to implement the central facility 190 illustrated in FIG. 4.The post-processing program begins at block 902 when the examplemetering data receiver 402 (FIG. 4) receives metering data. For example,when the media measurement data controller 212 (FIG. 2) completes theanalyzing of records in the data store 214 (FIG. 2), the communicationprocessor 208 (FIG. 2) notifies the network communicator 206 (FIG. 2) totransmit the records in the data store 214 to the central facility 190.

The example meter data receiver 402 stores the received meter data inthe example meter data database 404 (FIG. 4). The example meter datadatabase 404 may notify the example media measurement data controller412 (FIG. 4) that records are available to be analyzed. In this manner,the example media measurement data controller 412 determines if anyrecords are identified as AOT. (Block 904). For example, the mediameasurement data controller 412 analyzes the match column of theprovided records to determine if any metadata corresponds to “NO,”“AOT,” “undeterminable,” “unidentifiable,” etc. If the example mediameasurement data controller 412 does not determine there are recordsstored as AOT data (e.g., Block 904 returns a result of NO), the examplemedia measurement data controller 412 notifies the example reportgenerator 414 (FIG. 4) and the example report generator 414 generatesmedia ratings report. (Block 914). For example, the report generator 414aggregates the metering data into a format that is viewable by aninterested party.

If the example media measurement data controller 412 does determinethere are records identified as AOT (e.g., Block 904 returns a result ofYES), the example media measurement data controller 412 performs forwardpass to supplement AOT classification. (Block 906). For example, themedia measurement data controller 412 may operate in a similar manner tothe media measurement data controller 212 (FIG. 2) and analyze theoperating state characteristics along with the records of a current timeand a previous time to further retrieve identified media data forduplication purposes. During forward pass operation, if the AOT recordcan be assumed the same as the identified record from a previous time,then the identified media is duplicated, time stamped with the time ofthe AOT record, and updated in the example metering data database 404.

After the example media measurement data controller 412 completesforward pass operation on the records in the metering data database 404,the example media measurement data controller 412 determines if thereare remaining records identified as AOT. (Block 908). When the examplemedia measurement data controller 412 determines all records have beenidentified as a media type (e.g., Block 908 returns a result of NO), theexample media measurement data controller 412 stores updated meteringdata in the metering data database 404. (Block 912).

When the media measurement data controller 412 determines there areremaining records identified as AOT (e.g., Block 908 returns a result ofYES), the example media measurement data controller 412 performsbackward pass to supplement AOT classification. (Block 910). Forexample, during forward pass operation, a previous record time stampedbefore the AOT record may not have corresponding identified media andthe record remains classified as AOT data. In this manner, the examplemedia measurement data controller 412 tries to identify the AOT recordby looking at a future record. The example media measurement datacontroller 412 analyzes the operating state characteristics along withthe records of a current time and a future time to further retrieveidentified media data for duplication purposes. During backward passoperation, the AOT record can be assumed to be equal to or the same asthe identified record from a future time, then the identified media isduplicated, time stamped with the time of the AOT record, and updated inthe example metering data database 404.

When the example media measurement data controller 412 completesbackward pass operation, the media measurement data controller 412stores the updated metering data in the metering data database 404.(Block 912). After the updated metering data is stored, the examplemedia measurement data controller 412 notifies the example reportgenerator 414 that post-processing is complete, and the example reportgenerator 414 initiates the generating of media ratings report. (Block914). For example, methods and apparatus disclosed herein have performedand exhausted operations to reduce AOT data to generate accurate andinsightful media ratings.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1000structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 5, 6, 7, and 8 toimplement the meter 114 of FIG. 1. The processor platform 1000 can be,for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation, aself-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g., acell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CDplayer, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, apersonal video recorder, a set top box, a headset or other wearabledevice, or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1012. The processor 1012 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1012 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors. GPUs. DSPs,or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor implements the example media identifier 204,the example network communicator 206, the example communicationprocessor 208, the example people identifier 210, the example mediameasurement data controller 212, the example data store 214, the exampleuser interface 216, the example remote controller receiver 218, theexample processor 222, the example AV network controller 224, theexample bus monitor 228, the example media interface 230, the exampleAOT identifier 232, the example operating state identifier 234, theexample record updater 236, the example comparator 238, the exampleduplicator 240, and the example media data transmitter 242.

The processor 1012 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1013 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1012 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1014 anda non-volatile memory 1016 via a bus 1018. The volatile memory 1014 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random AccessMemory (RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device.The non-volatile memory 1016 may be implemented by flash memory and/orany other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1014,1016 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1020. The interface circuit 1020 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1022 are connectedto the interface circuit 1020. The input device(s) 1022 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 1012. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 1024 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1020 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1024 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printerand/or speaker. The interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chipand/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 1026. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1028 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1028 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 1032 of FIGS. 5-8 may be stored inthe mass storage device 1028, in the volatile memory 1014, in thenon-volatile memory 1016, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1100structured to execute the instructions of FIGS. 7, 8, and/or 9 toimplement the central facility 190 of FIG. 1. The processor platform1100 can be, for example, a server, a personal computer, a workstation,a self-learning machine (e.g., a neural network), a mobile device (e.g.,a cell phone, a smart phone, a tablet such as an iPad™), a personaldigital assistant (PDA), an Internet appliance, a DVD player, a CDplayer, a digital video recorder, a Blu-ray player, a gaming console, apersonal video recorder, a set top box, a headset or other wearabledevice, or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 1100 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1112. The processor 1112 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1112 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors, GPUs, DSPs,or controllers from any desired family or manufacturer. The hardwareprocessor may be a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. Inthis example, the processor implements the example metering datareceiver 402, the example media measurement data controller 412, and theexample report generator 414.

The processor 1112 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1113 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1112 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1114 anda non-volatile memory 1116 via a bus 1118. The volatile memory 1114 maybe implemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM),Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS® Dynamic Random AccessMemory (RDRAM®) and/or any other type of random access memory device.The non-volatile memory 1116 may be implemented by flash memory and/orany other desired type of memory device. Access to the main memory 1114,1116 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1100 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1120. The interface circuit 1120 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), a Bluetooth® interface, a near fieldcommunication (NFC) interface, and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1122 are connectedto the interface circuit 1120. The input device(s) 1122 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 1012. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, isopoint and/or a voicerecognition system.

One or more output devices 1124 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1120 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1124 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a cathode ray tube display (CRT), an in-place switching(IPS) display, a touchscreen, etc.), a tactile output device, a printerand/or speaker. The interface circuit 1120 of the illustrated example,thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphics driver chipand/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1120 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem, a residential gateway, a wireless access point, and/or a networkinterface to facilitate exchange of data with external machines (e.g.,computing devices of any kind) via a network 1126. The communication canbe via, for example, an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection, a telephone line connection, a coaxial cable system, asatellite system, a line-of-site wireless system, a cellular telephonesystem, etc.

The processor platform 1100 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1128 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1128 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disks (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives.

The machine executable instructions 1132 of FIG. 9 may be stored in themass storage device 1128, in the volatile memory 1114, in thenon-volatile memory 1116, and/or on a removable non-transitory computerreadable storage medium such as a CD or DVD.

Example 1 includes an apparatus for classifying all-other-tuning (AOT),the apparatus comprising a media interface to access first channelinformation corresponding to a first record at a first time, anoperating state identifier to store the channel informationcorresponding to the first record at the first time in a data store, anAOT identifier to determine the first record is classified as AOT data,a comparator to compare the channel information at the first time withsecond channel information at a second time, wherein the second channelinformation at the second time corresponds to a previously classifiedmedia record, and a record updater to, when the first channelinformation matches the second channel information, update the firstrecord with a media identification from the matched media record andstore the updated first record in the data store.

Example 2 includes the apparatus of example 1, further including a mediaidentifier to collect live media records from an active device.

Example 3 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the mediaidentifier is to classify the media record corresponding to the secondtime as an identified broadcast network.

Example 4 includes the apparatus of example 2, wherein the operatingstate identifier is to detect audio codes or compare a signature toclassify the media records as identified media or AOT data.

Example 5 includes the apparatus of example 1, further including aduplicator to copy the classified media record at the second time andprovide the copy to the record updater.

Example 6 includes the apparatus of example 1, wherein the AOTidentifier is to notify the operating state identifier to query themedia interface for first channel information before the operating stateidentifier stores the first channel information in the data store.

Example 7 includes a method for classifying AOT data, the methodcomprising identifying, by executing an instruction with a processor, afirst record corresponding to all-other-tuning (AOT) data with a firsttime stamp, accessing, by executing an instruction with the processor,channel information corresponding to the first record, comparing, byexecuting an instruction with the processor, the channel informationcorresponding to the first record with the channel informationcorresponding to a second record to determine if the channel informationmatches, in response to the channel information corresponding to thefirst record matches the channel information corresponding to the secondrecord, querying, by executing an instruction with the processor, a datastore for identified media data of the second record, and duplicating,by executing an instruction with the processor, the identified mediadata of the second record to replace the AOT data of the first record.

Example 8 includes the method of example 7, further including storingthe first record in the data store when the AOT data has been replacedby the identified media data.

Example 9 includes the method of example 7, further includingclassifying the first record as AOT data if the channel informationcorresponding to the first record does not match the channel informationcorresponding to the second record.

Example 10 includes the method of example 7, further includingidentifying the second record at a time before the first record.

Example 11 includes the method of example 7, further includingdetermining a state of an active device, wherein the active device ispresenting unidentifiable media at the first time stamp.

Example 12 includes the method of example 7, further includingcollecting live media records from an active device.

Example 13 includes the method of example 7, further including detectingaudio codes and compare signatures to classify a media record asidentified media or AOT data.

Example 14 includes a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumcomprising instructions that, when executed, cause a processor to atleast identify a first record corresponding to all-other-tuning (AOT)data with a first time stamp, access channel information correspondingto the first record, compare the channel information corresponding tothe first record with the channel information corresponding to a secondrecord to determine if the channel information matches, query, inresponse to the channel information corresponding to the first recordmatches the channel information corresponding to the second record, adata store for identified media data of the second record, duplicate theidentified media data of the second record to replace the AOT data ofthe first record.

Example 15 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to store the first record in the data store when the AOT datahas been replaced by the identified media data.

Example 16 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to classify the first record as AOT data if the channelinformation corresponding to the first record does not match the channelinformation corresponding to the second record.

Example 17 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to identify the second record at a time before the firstrecord.

Example 18 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to determine a state of an active device, wherein the activedevice is presenting unidentifiable media at the first time stamp.

Example 19 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to collect live media records from an active device.

Example 20 includes the non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof example 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to detect audio codes or compare a signature to classify amedia record as identified media or AOT data.

Example 21 includes an apparatus for supplementing all-other-tuning(AOT) data classification, the apparatus comprising a record updater to,upon a determination that media data collection is complete, initializea variable to be equal to a first time corresponding to a first mediarecord classified as AOT data or to be equal to a last timecorresponding to a last media record classified as AOT data, anoperating state identifier to access a first channel informationcorresponding to the first media record and last channel informationcorresponding to the last media record, a comparator to compare thefirst channel information with a second channel information or a thirdchannel information with the last channel information, wherein thesecond channel information corresponds to a previously classified mediarecord of the first media record and the third channel informationcorresponds to a previously classified media record of the last mediarecord, and a duplicator to, in response to the first channelinformation matching the second channel information, or the last channelinformation matches the third channel information, create a replica ofat least one of the second channel information or the third channelinformation to store in place of the AOT data in the first media recordor the last media record.

Example 22 includes the apparatus of example 21, further including amedia data transmitter to transmit media records in a data store to acommunication processor when the record updater updates media records.

Example 23 includes the apparatus of example 22, wherein the recordupdater is to initialize the variable to be equal to all media recordsclassified with AOT data.

Example 24 includes the apparatus of example 23, wherein theinitialization of the variable includes at least one of incrementing thevariable or decrementing the variable.

Example 25 includes the apparatus of example 21, wherein the recordupdater is to store the replicated channel information in a data store.

Example 26 includes the apparatus of example 21, further including adata store to store media records and corresponding operating statecharacteristics with a time stamp.

Example 27 includes the apparatus of example 26, wherein the comparatoris to query the data store for at least one of the first channelinformation, the second channel information, the third channelinformation, and the last channel information.

Example 28 includes an apparatus for supplementing all-other-tuning(AOT) data, the apparatus comprising a metering data receiver to storemedia records in a metering data database when a meter provides themedia records, a media measurement data controller to perform a forwardpass and a backward pass on the media records to identify media recordsclassified as AOT data, and a report generator to generate a mediaratings report based on the media records processed by the mediameasurement data controller.

Example 29 includes the apparatus of example 28, wherein to perform theforward pass, the media measurement data controller is to match andreplace first channel information corresponding to a first media recordclassified as AOT data with second channel information identifying mediapresented at a time before the first media record.

Example 30 includes the apparatus of example 28, wherein to perform thebackward pass, the media measurement data controller is to match andreplace first channel information corresponding to a first media recordclassified as AOT data with second channel information identifying mediapresented at a time after the first media record.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that increaseaccuracy of media ratings, such as television ratings, by identifyingdata an example meter was not able to identify. The disclosed methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture improve the efficiency of using acomputing device by processing media data classified as AOT data whilethe meter is collecting the media data in real time to reduce apost-processing time after data collection has been completed. Thedisclosed methods, apparatus and articles of manufacture are accordinglydirected to one or more improvement(s) in the functioning of a computer.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for classifying all-other-tuning(AOT) data, the apparatus comprising: a media interface to access firstchannel information corresponding to a first record at a first time froma media presentation location, the first record including informationindicative of an active device outputting low audio volume; an operatingstate identifier to store the first channel information corresponding tothe first record at the first time in a data store; an AOT identifier toclassify the first record as AOT data when a media identification is notidentified in the first record due to the low audio volume; a comparatorto compare the first channel information at the first time with secondchannel information at a second time, wherein the second channelinformation at the second time corresponds to a previously classifiedmedia record from the media presentation location; and a record updaterto, when the first channel information matches the second channelinformation, update the first record with the media identification fromthe previously classified media record and store the updated firstrecord in the data store.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, further includinga media identifier to collect live media records from the active device.3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the media identifier is to classifythe media records corresponding to the second time as an identifiedbroadcast network.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further including amedia identifier to detect audio code data or compare signatures toclassify media records as identified media or AOT data.
 5. The apparatusof claim 1, further including a duplicator to copy the classified mediarecord at the second time and provide the copy to the record updater. 6.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the AOT identifier is to notify theoperating state identifier to query the media interface for firstchannel information before the operating state identifier stores thefirst channel information in the data store.
 7. A method for classifyingAOT data, the method comprising: classifying, by executing aninstruction with a processor, a first record from a media presentationlocation as all-other-tuning (AOT) data with a first time stamp based onan indication that a media data is not identified due to a low audiovolume output of an active device; accessing, by executing aninstruction with the processor, first channel information correspondingto the first record; comparing, by executing an instruction with theprocessor, the first channel information corresponding to the firstrecord with second channel information corresponding to a second recordfrom the media presentation location to determine if the first channelinformation matches the second channel information; in response to thefirst channel information corresponding to the first record matching thesecond channel information corresponding to the second record, querying,by executing an instruction with the processor, a data store foridentified media data of the second record; and duplicating, byexecuting an instruction with the processor, the identified media dataof the second record to replace the AOT data of the first record.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, further including storing the first record in thedata store when the AOT data has been replaced by the identified mediadata.
 9. The method of claim 7, further including classifying the firstrecord as AOT data if the first channel information corresponding to thefirst record does not match the second channel information correspondingto the second record.
 10. The method of claim 7, further includingidentifying the second record at a time before the first record.
 11. Themethod of claim 7, further including determining a state of the activedevice, wherein the active device is presenting unidentifiable media atthe first time stamp.
 12. The method of claim 7, further includingcollecting live media records from the active device.
 13. The method ofclaim 7, further including detecting audio codes or comparing signaturesto classify a media record as identified media or AOT data.
 14. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionsthat, when executed, cause a processor to at least: classify a firstrecord from a media presentation location as all-other-tuning (AOT) datawith a first time stamp based on an indication that a media data is notidentified due to a low audio volume output of an active device; accesschannel information corresponding to the first record; compare thechannel information corresponding to the first record with channelinformation corresponding to a second record from the media presentationlocation to determine if the channel information from the mediapresentation location corresponding to the first record matches thechannel information from the media presentation location correspondingto the second record; query, in response to the channel informationcorresponding to the first record matching the channel informationcorresponding to the second record, a data store for identified mediadata of the second record; duplicate the identified media data of thesecond record to replace the AOT data of the first record.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein theinstructions, when executed, cause the processor to store the firstrecord in the data store when the AOT data has been replaced by theidentified media data.
 16. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause theprocessor to classify the first record as AOT data if the channelinformation corresponding to the first record does not match the channelinformation corresponding to the second record.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions,when executed, cause the processor to identify the second record at atime before the first record.
 18. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 14, wherein the instructions, when executed,cause the processor to determine a state of the active device, whereinthe active device is presenting unidentifiable media at the first timestamp.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim14, wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the processor tocollect live media records from the active device.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein theinstructions, when executed, cause the processor to detect audio codesor compare signatures to classify a media record as identified media orAOT data.